Storm Surge is a musical representation of the devastating North Sea storm surge (in Dutch, Watersnoodramp) of 1953. The surge left 2551 dead, 1836 people from the Netherlands alone, together with fatalities in Scotland, England and West Flanders. Storm Surge starts off with calm waters, while we hear the steadily growing sounds of the wind and sea. A specially commissioned poem, written by Martin Westlake, spoken over these sounds, warns of the dangers of ignoring the storm. Slowly, the storm starts to take hold and the sea begins to swell. The violence of the storm then erupts, but before it reaches its climax, the Dutch National Anthem gives a sense of the calm in the eye of the storm. It then returns to the storm surge and depicts the sea breaking through and ravaging the coastline. Eventually the storm surge recedes until a lone trumpet is left quoting broken fragments of the Anthem. The work closes with a calm breeze mournfully revealing the devastation left behind by this natural disaster.
